Iowa State Trooper Darren Argabright is shown in this photo provided by the Iowa Department of Public Safety. / AP

by Jason Noble, The Des Moines Register

by Jason Noble, The Des Moines Register

DES MOINES, Iowa -- A vehicle carrying Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was stopped for speeding last month, leading to a warning citation for the state trooper who was driving.

The incident was the second this year in which the governor's official vehicle was pulled over for exceeding posted speed limits. In this case, a Chevy Tahoe carrying Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and driven by a state trooper was stopped by a sheriff's deputy in Franklin County on Aug. 27.

Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Scott Bright said it was not known how fast the vehicle was traveling or how many mph over the speed limit it was going. Officers who respond to speeding incidents are given wide discretion in deciding whether to issue tickets or warnings.

In this case, Bright said, the offense met the responding officer's criteria for a warning rather than a ticket. Warnings do not typically include the vehicle's speed.

The ticket was written to Trooper Darren Argabright and refers to a silver 2012 Tahoe. That's a different vehicle with a different license plate number than the black Tahoe that typically transports the governor, which was pulled over for speeding last April.

As soon as the warning was issued, Argabright contacted his supervisors and has since been disciplined, Bright said. He declined to say specifically what that discipline entailed, however, calling the matter "an internal investigation" that could not be disclosed publicly.

"Speeding will not be tolerated, and, basically, it was not tolerated" in this case, Bright said. "He got written enforcement action, he got disciplined, action has been taken against the trooper, and the case has been closed."

Franklin County Sheriff Larry Richtsmeier and Chief Deputy Linn Larson did not return calls seeking comment Friday. Larson was the officer who issued the warning.

When contacted for comment, a spokesman for the Republican governor on Friday emphasized the disciplinary action taken by DPS and referred questions to the department.

"The governor has made clear that his security detail is to obey all traffic laws, and he does not tolerate any exceptions," spokesman Tim Albrecht said.

The incident occurred at 11:34 a.m. on Aug. 27 on Iowa Highway 3 in Franklin County, according to the ticket.

Records of the governor's schedule indicate Branstad and Reynolds appeared in Webster City, Clarion and Hampton that day. Hampton is in Franklin County, and the leaders were scheduled to appear at a town hall meeting there at noon.

The August incident followed a similar situation last April, in which a state law enforcement official observed a vehicle traveling above the speed limit and called in a state trooper to pull it over.

The trooper ultimately clocked the SUV at 84 mph - 19 mph over the posted limit - but did not issue a citation after discovering it was Branstad's official vehicle. Afterward, the official who called in the report - Division of Criminal Investigation Agent Larry Hedlund - was first placed on administrative leave and then was fired.

Now he's suing the state for wrongful termination, although DPS officials and the governor's office contend his firing had nothing to do with the speeding incident. The driver of the governor's SUV in the April incident later was issued a ticket.

Democrat state Sen. Jack Hatch, who is looking to challenge Branstad in next year's gubernatorial election, issued a statement

saying the second instance of speeding by the governor's vehicle represents a pattern of behavior.

"I call on him to release a full report on the times that his security detail has been pulled over," Hatch said.